--- title: Sony Hack: Aaron Sorkin Says Journalists Are Aiding Criminals description: The Newsroom creator says media outlets covering the cyberattack are "morally treasonous and spectacularly dishonorable." canonical: https://time.com/3633366/sony-hack-aaron-sorkin/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-15T13:08:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:11.629Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Aaron Sorkin Says Media 'Morally Treasonous' in Sony Hack og:description: He calls journalists covering the attack "spectacularly dishonorable." og:url: https://time.com/3633366/sony-hack-aaron-sorkin/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6399adad87915594/69876ea40b72e367776dc98f/aaron-sorkin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1707 og:image:height: 960 og:image:alt: Aaron Sorkin og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Aaron Sorkin Says Media 'Morally Treasonous' in Sony Hack twitter:description: He calls journalists covering the attack "spectacularly dishonorable." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6399adad87915594/69876ea40b72e367776dc98f/aaron-sorkin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Aaron Sorkin Says Media 'Morally Treasonous' in Sony Hack > Sponsored content. 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Sony Pictures Entertainment chair Amy Pascal and Oscar-winning producer Scott Rudin have both issued apologies after Sony’s massive corporate hack revealed an email exchange of the two making distasteful jokes about President Obama._  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Dec 15, 2014 1:08 PM UTC  Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin arrives for the premiere of 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1' at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Nov. 17, 2014. Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin arrives for the premiere of 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1' at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Nov. 17, 2014. Nina Prommer—EPA  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Dec 15, 2014 1:08 PM UTC Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin [has harsh words](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/15/opinion/aaron-sorkin-journalists-shouldnt-help-the-sony-hackers.html?%5Fr=0) for media outlets who published information revealed in the leaked emails from the recent Sony Pictures hack. “As a screenwriter in Hollywood who’s only two generations removed from probably being blacklisted, I’m not crazy about Americans calling other Americans un-American, so let’s just say that every news outlet that did the bidding of the Guardians of Peace is morally treasonous and spectacularly dishonorable,” Sorkin wrote in [a New York _Times_ op-ed](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/15/opinion/aaron-sorkin-journalists-shouldnt-help-the-sony-hackers.html?%5Fr=0) published Sunday night. Sorkin, who created _The West Wing_ and the recently concluded _The Newsroom_, says said media outlets reporting information form the hack are helping the hacker group that, in addition to carrying out the cyberattack that exposed confidential personal information such as medical records, also threatened the safety of Sony Pictures’ employees’ families. **MORE:** [Meet the Sony executive at the center of the worst corporate hack ever](http://time.com/3631735/amy-pascal-sony-hack/) A group calling itself the Guardians of Peace had threatened to reveal the documents it obtained if the studio went forward with _The Interview_, a comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco that follows a fictional assassination attempt on North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. Sorkin’s name has come up in stories about the leaked emails, as several of them concern what he calls behind-the-scenes “squabbling” about the Steve Jobs biopic he’s writing. But Sorkin says justifying coverage of the stolen documents’ content as “newsworthy” is misguided. “I understand that news outlets routinely use stolen information,” Sorkin writes. “That’s how we got the Pentagon Papers, to use an oft-used argument. But there is nothing in these documents remotely rising to the level of public interest of the information found in the Pentagon Papers.” ## Transcript More embarrassment for Sony pictures is Amy Pascal and prominent producer Scott Rudin. They are apologizing over offensive emails in which they discuss the POTUS himself. Emails revealed as part of the massive hack on Sony. And most of us have spent a lot of time thinking about our favorite movies or tv shows, but we don't often think about. The entire infrastructure and industry behind the scenes. That was President Obama at a fundraising event for the Democratic National Committee in November. In the emails, Pascal asks Rudin, what he suggests she ask Obama at that fundraiser. And Rudin floats the idea of Pascal asking if Potus would fund any movies, to which she replies, I doubt it, should I ask him he liked Jango? Yikes. The reference of course is to Django Unchained. Things go downhill from there as the two take turns guessing what movie starring an African American is Obama's favorite. Further guesses included 12 years a slave. Lee Daniels' The Butler. Think Like a Man, Kevin Hart's Ride Along. The jokes are both offensive and simplistic. We'd expect more high brow humor from entertainment industry execs. Now both Pascal and Rudin have apologized for that exchange with Pascal saying she accepts full responsibility for the inappropriate conversation. Rudin's apology says the emails, quote, were meant only to be funny. But in the cold light of day, they are in fact thoughtless and insensitive. Buzz Feed revealed the embarrassing emails and points out that Pascal is actually a major contributor to the DNC, having donated more than $ 30, 000 to it. She also gave $ 5, 000 to the President's re- election campaign. And this revelation might add evidence to Chris Rock's recent claim in an Op Ed for the Hollywood Reporter that Hollywood is a, quote, white industry. The leaked emails are only the latest in a huge file dump uploaded online by a group calling itself The Guardians of Peace. 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